Insight Illustrates the Power of Microsoft’s New Azure Sphere Solution

Insight EnterprisesMay 14, 2018

TEMPE, Ariz., May 14, 2018 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- Insight Enterprises (NASDAQ:NSIT), the global provider of Insight Intelligent Technology Solutions™ for organizations of all sizes, announced today that it collaborated with Microsoft to demonstrate the potential of Azure Sphere — an industry first solution to power and secure billions of cloud connected devices on the intelligent edge. The Insight Digital Innovation team worked with Microsoft to test and demonstrate Azure Sphere’s potential, and helped capture critical pre-launch feedback from clients.

“ Azure Sphere is going to open up a new market around connected devices,” said Matt Jackson, Vice President, Digital Innovation, Insight. “Because we worked with Microsoft over the past year to help develop the solution, we are already deeply familiar with its capabilities and are uniquely positioned to bring that expertise and meaningful connection to our clients.”

The Insight Digital Innovation demonstration:

Working with Microsoft, Insight used a prototype of Azure Sphere to turn an out-of-the-box kitchen appliance into a connected device and designed a dashboard and mobile application from which the device could be monitored and controlled.

The Digital Innovation team showed how an unconnected device — what many call a “dumb” device — could be easily transformed into a fully controllable smart device.

“Azure Sphere brings intelligence and security to the edge and enables entirely new AI powered customer experiences,” said Rodney Clark, Vice President, IoT at Microsoft. “Because of their experience developing Azure Sphere solutions, Insight is well positioned to help customers realize the transformative opportunities of Azure Sphere power devices and solutions.”

Azure Sphere differentiators:

-- Speed to market:Insight’s IoT solutions combined with Azure Sphere’s power will make it easy to build, test, control, deploy and monitor applications and devices, significantly reducing time to market and driving new revenue opportunities. -- Automation: Because the appliance is connected to the cloud, it automatically knows to collect data and feed it to the cloud, eliminating the labor-intensive work previously required to develop IoT devices and solutions. -- Security: Azure Sphere is a fully integrated solution, meaning fewer parties are involved in bringing a connected device to market. This results in fewer questions around data-ownership and mitigates opportunities for data theft across the chain.

“Azure Sphere is truly revolutionary and has the potential to accelerate the rate at which we see connected devices hit the market,” said Jackson. “Microsoft took six months of electrical and mechanical engineering, as well as firmware development, and boiled it down to what is essentially a plug-and-play IoT solution. It’s really exciting to imagine this technology’s transformative potential for our clients.”

Insight’s collaboration with Microsoft on Azure Sphere coupled with a deep expertise in the Internet of Things, mobile app development and data analytics can help clients maximize the power of connected devices. Through a proprietary design process, Insight helps companies innovate smarter to monetize existing offerings, create new revenue streams and drive differentiation across customer and employee experiences.

About Insight

Today, every business is a technology business. Insight Enterprises, Inc. empowers organizations of all sizes with Insight Intelligent Technology Solutions™ and services to maximize the business value of IT. As a Fortune 500-ranked global provider of digital innovation, cloud/data center transformation, connected workforce, and supply chain optimization solutions and services, we help clients successfully manage their IT today while transforming for tomorrow. From IT strategy and design to implementation and management, our 6,800 employees help clients innovate and optimize their operations to run smarter. Discover more at insight.com. NSIT-M